Senators have wasted precious little time in attempting to thwart Air Force plans to draw down the B-52 fleet, passing an amendment to the Fiscal 2007 defense budget request that would add nearly $2 billion over the next five years...

The Pentagon has given the green light for $348 million in construction work at New Jersey’s Ft. Dix and McGuire Air Force Base, as part of a consolidation of those two facilities and the Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station into...

US Forces Japan officials say that news articles claiming that Yokota AB, Japan, will give up control of some airspace to aid Japan’s growing commercial aviation industry are premature, reports Stars and Stripes. US and Japanese are in negotiation over...

Making SBIRS Simpler: Air Force Undersecretary Ronald Sega told lawmakers that sensor technology has moved “a great deal in the last 10 years” since the start of the Space Based Infrared System satellite program. So much so that he believes...

The Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Michael Moseley, has written a letter to airmen to thank them for their sacrifices in the Global War on Terror and to tell them they are doing “awesome work.” Noting that the service has been at war for more than 15 years—since 1991’s Gulf War 1 through 12 years of no-fly zone patrols over Iraq to today. He says today’s airmen are “the most combat experienced, battle-hardened” since World War II.

Air Force Special Operations Command has received a CV-22 Osprey simulator, the first one the command has placed in the hands of operators rather than trainers. AFSOC placed the $21 million sim with the 19th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt...

Russian Air Force Commander Vladimir Mikhailov told RIA Novosti news service that the Russian Air Force would receive by 2010 a regiment’s worth of new Su-34 fighter-bombers to replace its older Su-24 front line bomber. It has “about 10” so...

Air Force Materiel Command has been working for more than a year to create an organization whose function will be to “refocus nuclear weapon system activities within the Air Force,” according to AFMC officials at Kirtland AFB, N.M. On March 31 at the New Mexico base, AFMC will establish the Nuclear Weapons Center, comprising the host unit at Kirtland, the 377th Air Base Wing, the Cruise Missile Group at Tinker AFB, Okla., the 896th Munitions Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev., Kirtland’s Nuclear Weapons Directorate, and the 498th Armament Systems Wing. According to the Kirtland base newspaper, the 498th ARSW will oversee the Cruise Missile Group (redesignated the 498th Missile Sustainment Group), the Nuclear Weapons Directorate (renamed the 498th Nuclear Systems Group), and the 377th Maintenance Group (redesignated 498th Munitions Maintenance Group.)

Air Mobility Command has selected CMSgt. Joseph E. Barron Jr. as its next command chief. Barron, who will join AMC in April, currently is the Command Chief Master Sergeant. of 2d Air Force at Keesler AFB, Miss. He has served...

Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, appears to agree with Senate colleagues that the Pentagon’s proposed Tricare fee increases for military retirees needs an independent review. McHugh told Government Executive that he favors a...

A team effort between the Air Force Space Command and the Air Force Reserve Command is taking a new look at the way individual mobilization augmentees train. At Patrick AFB, Fla., recently more than 200 IMAs completed more than 20...

Senators Ask for Review of Veterans Job Assistance: The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs have asked the Government Accountability Office to examine the Labor Department’s employment efforts for veterans. Chairman Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and...

Central Command Air Forces has a special Web site displaying individual and unit awards that Air Force Reserve Command officials say Reservists should visit to see whether they are eligible for awards from their duty in the Global War on...

DOD Releases Sexual Assault Report: The Department of Defense recently released its second annual report from the Joint Task Force for Sexual Assault Prevention and Response. According to the Pentagon, the “climate of confidence” is building and programs to combat...

The Pentagon plans to launch the 10th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation on April 1. Officials say they will base the QRMC on the recommendations of the Defense Advisory Committee on Military Compensation. The Congressionally chartered commission submitted an initial...

March 20, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 14 5 19 CAS/Armed Recon 56 19 75 Airlift 175 175 Air refueling 32 32 Total 70 24 207 301 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance